Announcing the Upcoming Budge: “Benson’s Fudge”

Things are looking very good for SinisterForces. I finished a lot of design work over the last year, and I am now working on the manuscript. Writing is being done on a daily basis, and play testing at events has been great. That is why I am pleased to announce that I will be releasing the core of the SinisterForces game as Budge! Budge stands for “Benson’s Fudge” and it is my Fudge derivative.

Budge is the framework upon which the SinisterForces setting is built, and Fudge is the underlying system used by Budge itself. I have often said that Fudge is an RPG toolkit that you use to build other games with (like FATE). Budge is one of those games.

I am currently working with a project manager, and you can expect the Budge manuscript to be released no later than January of 2011. I am hoping that it will be posted here before that time, but I am very confident that the first version will be available here soon!

Working on designing my own RPG has taught me just how little I know. Now to see the framework finally coming together as a complete manuscript is really an amazing moment for me. It is actually taking form! I’m going to have a game system out there for others to play and enjoy! Once Budge is out I can then work on the first SinisterForces setting book for Budge.

I hope that you all enjoy the Budge system once it is released. Below is a sneak peek at the contents. Comments and questions are greatly appreciated!

Chapter 1 Budge

Budge Character Sheet Prototype

Chapter 2 Core System

Fudge Dice

Power & Vampire Dice

Ranks Ladder

Ranks Modifier

Ranks Value

Level

Fudge Points

Scale

Chapter 3 Character Creation

Points

Primary Attributes

Brawn

Reflexes

Perception

Reason

Willpower

Health

- Damage Capacity

Scratch

Hurt

Injured

Agony

Dying

- Recovery Modifier

Secondary Attributes

Movement

Block

Dodge

Notice

Notice Checks

Power Points

Aspects

Unique Advantages

Tragic Hubris

Skills

Pre-requisite Skills

Other Details

Description

Motivation

Equipment

Character Creation Example

Chapter 4 Combat

Initiative

Turns

Movement

Position

Attacking

Defending

Multiple Attackers & Defenders

Damage

Character Death

Armor

Weapons

Chapter 5 Healing

Recovery Time

Medical Equipment

Magical, Sci-Fi, & Paranormal Healing

Chapter 6 Special Damage

Acid

Disease

Drowning

Electricity

Explosions

Exposure

Falling

Fire & Severe Heat

Freezing & Severe Cold

Poison

Chapter 7 Gear

Creation

Repair

Armor Types

Reductive

Preventive

Natural

Special Qualities

Weapon Types

Melee

Ranged

Natural/Hand-to-Hand Weapons

Special Qualities

Chapter 8 Vehicles

Air

Ground

Space

Submersible

Subterranean

Water

Chapter 9 Magic

Who Can Use Magic

Limitations

Power Sources

Spell Components

Casting Time

Casting Requirements

Chapter 10 Extraordinary Powers

Cybernetic

Magical

Psychic

Supernatural

Superhuman

Chapter 11 How To Be A Budge GM

Challenges

Encounters

Plot Development

To Roll, Or Not To Roll?

Chapter 12 Friends & Foes

One Hit Wonders

Supporting Cast

Peers

Greater Beings

Chapter 13 Design Guidelines

Characters

Traits

Gear

Foes

Rules

4 Responses

[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Chris Helton, Patrick Benson. Patrick Benson said: Announcing the upcoming Budge game system! http://bit.ly/di85Pp Budge stands for "Benson's Fudge" and is the framework of SinisterForces. […]

I think it sounds fantastic. I can’t emphasize enough how good it makes me feel to see the FUDGE community continuing to produce quality material, especially when the game is still, by most standards, very much unknown to the general PnP community. As a fan of both FUDGE and Fate, I am very excited to take a look at your Budge.

@Mulsiphix – Thank you, but let’s wait and see how the manuscript is received before we start throwing words like “quality” around.

Seriously, I expect the Budge framework to be a work in progress for at lest the first year following its release. That is not to say that it will be bad, but it is being realistic that people will have complaints and suggestions about the product. I hope that it is well received and I am ready to fix what is broken.

[…] because it is so simple to learn that I can start a game of it for non-gamers with no prep work. My variant of Fudge is called Budge, and it is short for “Benson’s Fudge”. All I am doing with Budge is streamlining Fudge even further so that I can develop settings for […]